DID YOU KNOW… REGULATIONS FOR THE EDUCATION OF STUDENTS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES (2419)

DID YOU KNOW…DID YOU KNOW…

REGULATIONS FOR THE EDUCATION OFSTUDENTS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES

(2419)

REGULATIONS FOR THE EDUCATION OFSTUDENTS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES (2419)

§126-16-4. Summary4.1 Federal statute and West Virginia Code provide requirements for identifying students with exceptionalities whose learning needs are adversely impacted by their disability or giftedness and need special education services and support. Therefore, the term “exceptional” in this policy and procedures manual refers to eligible students with disabilities and eligible students who are gifted. These policies and procedures outline the responsibilities of the State and local education agency in meeting these requirements.

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Introduction

This manual is provided to each school district as West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) approved policies and procedures to be adopted by

the district’s Board of education. Any changes to procedures outlined in the manual must have WVDE approval. Appendices supplement the body of the manual and are not to be adopted as, or considered to be, policy.

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FAPE

District Obligation The district is required to ensure that FAPE is available to students residing in the district who

areeligible for special education services, including students with disabilities who have beensuspended or expelled from school as provided for in Chapter 7. This includes students who

residein group, personal care, or foster homes, as well as state operated facilities and students who aremigratory or homeless. The district is obligated to make FAPE available to each eligible student in the district as follows: Students who are at least three years old and are eligible for special education services unless

the parent/adult student has refused special education services; Students who have not yet turned twenty-one years of age prior to September 1 and have not

graduated with a standard high school diploma; or Students with disabilities whose suspension(s) or expulsion(s) results in a change of

placement; or Students determined in need of special education and related services, even though the

student has not failed or been retained in a course or grade, and is advancing grade to grade.

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FAPE

A. District Obligation Students with exceptionalities will be provided an instructional day, a school day and school calendar at least equivalent to that established for students without exceptionalities of the same chronological age in the same setting.

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FAPE

E. Nonacademic Services The district must ensure that students with exceptionalities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities by providing the supplementary aids and services determined appropriate and necessary by the student’s IEP Team. In addition, physical education services, specially designed if necessary, must be made available to every student receiving FAPE in accordance with West Virginia Board of Education policies.

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CHILD FIND

Section 1. District ResponsibilityThe Child Find system must include all students suspected of needing special education and related services within the district’s geographic boundaries who are: (Does apply to gifted.)

Enrolled in public school; Home schooled; Enrolled in private schools, including religious schools, located in the district; Not enrolled in school, including children ages birth through five; Highly mobile students including migrant students; Homeless students; Wards of the state; or Suspected of having a disability as defined in Chapter 4 even though the

student has not failed or been retained in a course or grade and is advancing from grade to grade.

CHILD FIND

Additionally, districts must conduct developmental screening for children under compulsory school attendance age upon the request of a parent or guardian of a child residing in the district or attending a private school within the district. This developmental screening must be conducted within thirty school days of the written request. The district is not required to provide such screening to the same child more than once in any one school year. Children identified through the screening process should be referred for further evaluation.

CHILD FIND

Within five school days of receipt of a written SAT referral for a multidisciplinary evaluation, appropriate persons must be notified of the date, time, location and specific information needed for the meeting. Within ten school days of receipt of the written SAT referral, the SAT must conduct a review of the area(s) of concern, collect and analyze available educational data and review previous interventions and make a determination regarding a referral for evaluation. If a parent verbalizes request they must be informed that the request must come in writing. This must be noted in a log.

CHILD FIND

Problem solving activities of the SAT cannot be used to delay processing a referral for consideration of a special education evaluation where immediate action is warranted. The SAT should review the effectiveness of the SAT’s recommendations within the timeline established for each student, but in no case should the review take place beyond forty-five school days. For young children, interventions should be reviewed more frequently. Depending on the results of the interventions, the SAT should:

Continue, modify or add interventions within a timeline established for the student by the SAT;

Within five days of the decision to evaluate, refer the student for a multidisciplinary special education evaluation and immediately forward that referral to the special education director or designee; or

Close the case. Page 9

CHILD FIND

The SAT must invite parents to review recommendations made by the SAT in regard to the student’s program and to provide feedback to the team about those recommendations. When the SAT determines a referral for a multidisciplinary special education evaluation is appropriate, prior written notice (PWN) must be provided and informed parental consent obtained before conducting the evaluation.

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Evaluation / Reevaluation

The principal, classroom teacher or other designated individual is responsible for documenting the date written parental consent for initial evaluation is received and immediately forwarding this request to the special education director or designee. Within eighty days of the documented date, the district must conduct a full, individual initial evaluation and convene an eligibility committee (EC) to determine the student’s eligibility for special education before the provision of special education and related services to a student with an exceptionality.


The eighty-day timeline will not apply to a district if:

The parent repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the student for an evaluation after the district has made and documented reasonable efforts to schedule an evaluation (See Section 3, B., 2. Consent Requirements for what constitutes reasonable efforts.); or

The student enrolls in another district prior to the eligibility determination and the receiving district is making sufficient progress to ensure a prompt completion of the evaluation and the parent/adult student and receiving district agree to a specific time when the evaluation will be completed.


Within three years of the date of the last EC, or more frequently if the parent or teacher requests or conditions warrant (e.g., if the district determines that the educational or related services needs, including improved academic achievement and functional performance, warrant a reevaluation), the district shall conduct, as appropriate, an individual multidisciplinary reevaluation to determine a student’s educational needs and continued eligibility for special education and related services and whether any additions or modifications to the student’s special education and related services are needed to enable the student to meet their measurable annual IEP goals and to participate, to the extent appropriate, in the general education curriculum.

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The district must also reevaluate a student with a disability before determining that the student is no longer eligible for special education, unless: For any other reason a student must be reevaluated to be exited from special education.

The student graduates with a standard high school diploma; or

The student reaches the age of twenty-one.

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Additional Evaluations

Additional evaluations requested by the EC or IEP Team must be completed and an EC or IEP Team meeting held within sixty days from receipt of parental consent for the identified evaluations. Request for parental consent for additional evaluations must be sent within ten school days of the EC or IEP Team meeting generating the request for evaluation.

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Consent – Initial & Reevaluation

Written consent must be sought for evaluation and reevaluation. Based on recommendations from the evaluation team, the district will seek consent to administer the needed assessments within ten school days of the decision to evaluate/reevaluate. If the parent/ adult student fails to respond within ten school days of the initial request for consent, the district must mail or hand-deliver a second notice. If the parent/adult student once again fails to respond, the district must document reasonable measures taken to obtain consent, which may include:

A record of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those

calls; Copies of correspondence sent to the parent/adult student and any

response received; and/or Detailed records of visits made to the parent’s/adult student’s home or

place of employment and the results of those visits.Page 16

Consent For Evaluation

If the parent/adult student fails to respond after the district has taken reasonable measures to obtain consent for assessments and after the passage of thirty school days from the initial request for consent, the district may:

As part of a reevaluation, provide PWN that the district will conduct the reevaluation; orAs part of an initial evaluation, pursue the evaluation by using mediation or filing a due process complaint.If the parent refuses consent, the district may use mediation or due process hearing procedures if the student is enrolled in or seeking enrollment in a public school.

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When Is Written Consent Not Required

Neither written consent nor consent is required for: The review of existing data as part of an evaluation or reevaluation; The administration of a test or other assessment that is administered

to all students unless consent is required of the parents of all the students;

Screening, including monitoring of progress by a teacher or specialist, to determine the appropriate instructional strategies for curriculum implementation; and

Initial evaluations, when the student is a ward of the state and is not residing with the student’s parent, if:

Despite reasonable efforts, the district cannot discover the whereabouts of the parents;

The rights of the parents have been terminated under state law; or The rights of the parents to make educational decisions have been

subrogated by a judge in accordance with state law and consent has been provided for the initial evaluation by an individual appointed by the judge to represent the child.

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Eligibility Determination

Within eighty days of receipt of consent for an initial evaluation or after the completion of a reevaluation and prior to the established reevaluation date, the district must schedule an EC meeting to determine whether a student is or continues to be a student in need of special education services.

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Results of the multidisciplinary evaluation shall be utilized by the EC as the primary source of information to determine the student’s educational needs and if the student meets the following three prongs as described in Section 3. State Eligibility Criteria:

Meets the eligibility criteria in one of the designated exceptionalities;

Experiences an adverse effect on educational performance; andNeeds special education;

orNo longer meets the eligibility criteria or no longer needs specially designed instruction.


Using the results of the multidisciplinary evaluation, the EC must determine the student’s primary exceptionality when more than one exceptionality condition is present. The committee must discuss how each exceptionality affects the student’s educational and functional performance and determine and document which has the most adverse impact on the student’s participation and progress in the general curriculum.


A student is not eligible for special education unless all three components are satisfied and documented. A student who only needs a related service and not special education is not eligible.

Districts must carefully consider the reevaluation of students initially found eligible for special education. Districts must consider the effect of exiting a student from special education who has received special education for many years and how the removal of such supports will affect the student’s educational progress, particularly for a student who is in the final year(s) of high school.

SLD Eligibility Options

Districts shall use a process based on the student’s response to scientific, research-based intervention in accordance with each school’s specific grade level configuration and the timelines listed below:

Elementary Schools July 1, 2009Middle Schools July 1, 2010

High Schools July 1, 2011

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Purpose of IEP Meeting

The primary purpose of an IEP Team meeting is to design an IEP that will meet the unique needs of an eligible student. The IEP Team plans the special education and related services designed to provide access to and progress in the general curriculum. The parent or adult student, district personnel and other IEP Team members should come prepared to participate in an open discussion regarding the student’s individual needs and how those needs affect the student’s mastery of the content standards and objectives. Placement decisions must be considered after the special education services are determined.

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IEP Team Decision Making

If the parent or adult student and other IEP Team members cannot reach consensus regarding an IEP decision, then the district representative on the IEP Team must make the decision and provide PWN of the decision to the parent or adult student ten days prior to implementing the IEP. The parent or adult student may exercise their right to mediation or a due process hearing regarding the decision (Refer to Chapter 11).

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Scheduling IEP Meetings

An IEP meeting must be convened: To develop an IEP within thirty days of eligibility determination and prior to the

initiation of services. To review the IEP periodically, but no longer than 365 days from the date of

development of the current IEP. An IEP must be in effect at the beginning of each school year;

When another agency fails to deliver transition or other services outlined in the IEP, the IEP Team must reconvene to identify alternative strategies to meet the transition objectives for the child set out in the IEP;

Within twenty-one days of receipt of written request by any member including the parent or adult student. However, if the district refuses a parent’s or adult student’s request to convene a meeting, it must provide PWN to the parent or adult student within ten days of its refusal.

Within twenty-one days of receipt of written request by a general education teacher who has responsibility for implementing the IEP.

Within ten days any decision to change the student’s placement because of a violation of a code of student conduct, the IEP Team must conduct a manifestation determination and if appropriate, complete a functional behavioral assessment and/or develop or review a behavioral intervention plan.

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IEP Team Membership

Not less than one general education teacher of the student. Not less than one special education teacher of the student or,

when appropriate, special education service provider (e.g., speech language pathologist).

A representative of the district who is qualified to provide or supervise the provision of special education, knowledgeable about the general education curriculum and knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the district and has the authority to allocate resources (one of the other members may be so designated if he/she meets these requirements).

An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results (who may be one of the other members).

At parent or district discretion, others with knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate.

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IEP Team Membership

The student when appropriate, but required when the purpose of the meeting is consideration of the postsecondary goals and transition services needed for reaching those goals.

To the extent appropriate and with parent or adult student consent, a representative of any participating agency that is likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services.

To the extent appropriate and with parent or adult student consent, a representative of any participating agency that is likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services.

To the extent appropriate and with parent or adult student consent, a representative of any participating agency that is likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services. For a student being considered for or currently in a private school placement made by the IEP Team, ensure participation of a representative of the private school or facility through attendance at the meeting, or other methods such as conference telephone calls.

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Extended School Year

ESY services may not be limited to a particular category of disability or be unilaterally limited in the type, amount or duration of those services and must be provided at no cost to the parent. The district shall annually inform parents of students with disabilities of the availability of ESY services and of procedures and criteria for determining a student’s need for ESY services, and of their right to refuse ESY services.

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Least Restrictive Environment - LRE

In determining an appropriate placement in the LRE, the IEP Team must consider the student’s needs and the continuum of services available to meet those needs beginning with the consideration of the general education setting. Removal from the general education environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the exceptionality is such that education in general classes and other settings with general education students cannot be achieved satisfactorily even with the use of supplementary aids and services. An eligible student is not to be removed from age-appropriate general education classrooms solely because of needed accommodations and modifications to the general education curriculum.

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Least Restrictive Environment - LRE

Participation in Nonacademic and Extracurricular Services and Activities: A student with a disability must be allowed to participate with students without disabilities in nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities to the maximum extent appropriate. These services and activities may include, but are not limited to, meals, recess, field trips, counseling services, athletics, transportation, health services, recreational activities, special interest groups or clubs sponsored by the district, referrals to community agencies, career development and assistance in making outside employment available.

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Procedural Safeguards

A copy of the Procedural Safeguards Notice must be made available to the parent or adult student only one time a year except that a copy will also be given upon: Initial referral or parental request for evaluation; The first occurrence of the filing of a due process or state

complaint; and The request of a parent or adult student.

It is recommended that the Procedural Safeguards Notice be given at the annual IEP meeting.

Administration of Services

Section 1. Initiation of ServicesSection 2. Provision of IEP InformationSection 3. Provision of ServicesSection 4. Provision of Staff

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Pre-K Classrooms

All WV Pre-K classrooms (including special education) should to the extent practicable reflect the natural proportions of students with disabilities to those without disabilities within the school or community, but with no more than ten students with disabilities per session. Pre-K classrooms are limited to no more than twenty students per session.

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Integrated Classrooms

To maximize the effectiveness of instruction for all students, the percentage of students with disabilities, excluding those with speech/language impairments, receiving specially designed instruction in general education settings should approximate natural proportions that are no more than 30% of the total class enrollment when integrated classrooms are established in the four core academic subjects, i.e., Reading/ Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and Math.

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Integrated Classrooms

For integrated classrooms where instructional responsibilities are shared, the special educator should not be assigned to more than two co-teaching or integrated classrooms during one instructional block. The special educator should meet with the class on a consistent schedule that provides support to the students and to the general educator.

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DID YOU KNOW… REGULATIONS FOR THE EDUCATION OF STUDENTS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES (2419)

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